The present invention relates to exercise equipment and, more particularly, to a portable exercise apparatus which enables two people to perform sit-ups together.
Over the past several years, numerous types of exercise equipment have been developed. Such prior art equipment typically provides means for an individual to perform one or more physical exercises for body tone, muscle building, heart conditioning, lung development and other like purposes. Many of these prior art devices are large, bulky and cumbersome and, consequently, generally stationary equipment. Necessarily, then, such devices take up a fair amount of space and are not suitable for persons without extra space in their home or office. Moreover, such devices are not suitable for persons desiring to use the equipment in more than one location.
Several portable exercise devices have been developed over the years. However, such devices are, typically, limited to a specific exercise are, consequently, limited in overall effectiveness. Moreover, such prior art portable exercise equipment oftentimes must be stabilized in some manner, such as by securing it to the ground or to some other fixed object. This is sometimes difficult and time consuming and may cause damage to the object to which the equipment is being secured.
A common complaint of many exercisers is the boredom associated with performing repetitive acts for a length of time. Such boredom is an inherent problem for individualized exercises. On the otherhand, exercise routines involving two or more people, such as tennis or racketball, do not suffer from this problem and, consequently, people are more apt to spend time performing such group exercise. However, most exercise equipment, especially portable exercise equipment, are structured to be used by only one person at a time.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for portable exercise equipment which can be utilized by two or more people. Any such equipment should be lightweight, compact, inexpensive and easy to operate and transport. The present invention is particularly suited to address this need in a manner not previously contemplated.
The present invention is directed towards a new and improved portable exercise apparatus comprising a footrest and an adjustable, elongate bar. The footrest includes a substantially flat top face, a pair of longitudinally disposed sidewalls projecting downwards and outward from opposite longitudinally disposed edges of the top face and a pair of opposing endwalls. The bar is comprised of an inner and outer tubular members arranged telescopically. Adjustment holes are provided along the length of the inner and outer tubular members and are structured to receive a pair tubular-shaped handles to retain the inner and outer members at their desired respective positions and to provide a means for gripping the bar. When not in use, the bar may be secured to the footrest by removing one of the handles from the bar, inserting the end of the bar without the handle through holes in the endwalls and then replacing the handle on the bar. In use, each person is seated on opposite sides of the footrest, facing each other, with their feet up against the inclined sidewalls. With the bar adjusted in length to approximate the distance between the extended arms of the two people when one is lying prone on his back and the other is sitting upright, each person grips the handle on their respective end of the bar and the person sitting up reclines backward towards the prone position while pulling the other person upward to an upright sitting position. At the same time, the person who was initially reclining backwards utilizes his abdominal muscles to sit up. This process is repeated back and forth until the desired number of repetitions are completed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved exercise apparatus having all the advantages of the prior art devices and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a portable exercise apparatus.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which can be utilized by two or more people.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which is lightweight, compact, inexpensive and easy to operate and transport.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent in the description which follows.